Focus on IoT and M2M connectivity
Three questions to Helmut Artmeier
EFCO Electronics from Deggendorf develops and sells industrial computer technology, including edge computers and switches, for example. Now, devices from Teltonika are being added. Managing Director Helmut Artmeier explains how the cooperation came about.
Mr. Artmeier, EFCO has just added Teltonika products to its range. With modern IT components such as powerful routers, aren't you competing with your own edge computers?
Helmut Artmeier: That is always decided by the application. But the point is: in the past, switches and routers were installed somewhere and then forgotten. Today, it makes sense to include the technical development and performance of modern industrial Ethernet devices in the system design.
After all, a modern router is based on powerful hardware. If we look at the »RUTX50« from Teltonika, for example, we have a quad-core Arm Cortex A7 architecture clocked at 700 MHz and running Linux as the operating system. You can do a lot with this, especially because the device also has numerous interfaces, including digital inputs and outputs.
Does this mean that Teltonika's switches and routers can be used to replace smaller edge computers?
Absolutely. For example, a powerful router can use »Node-RED« to collect data and process it in real time before sending it to the cloud. Local pre-processing saves bandwidth for more important things and can minimize latency. At the same time, the content can be securely packaged and thus well protected against prying eyes during transportation. Of course, there are technical limits to the hardware - but these are increasingly moving into the high-performance range.
A second advantage, especially outside cities and in newly built commercial and logistics areas: If I can pre-process data and control communication well, I can manage without 5G or fiber optics. This is perhaps something that our colleagues in the ultra-modern mobile computers still have to learn.
Which added values do consulting distributors, such as EFCO, use to convince their automation customers in times of online trading?
Every day we see that it is not always easy even for experienced automation specialists to get the best out of complex devices. This is often due to a lack of time, sometimes a lack of experience and sometimes both. Accordingly, Teltonika has also found that without local technical support it is often not possible to exploit the advantages of these devices.
Because we are automation specialists ourselves and our team can rely on decades of experience, Teltonika has officially appointed us as a service partner. In order to really be able to provide in-depth support, we have set up an application laboratory in Deggendorf where we can understand application scenarios and work out the optimum solution at our leisure. My colleagues enjoy this - and it saves our customers a lot of work.
Thank you very much for talking to us, Mr. Artmeier.
